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Saying goodbye to a friendTue, Jul. 9th, 2013  0:20

Tomorrow is my friend Victoria's memorial service.

It's weird.

Victoria and I met at a dysfunctional startup at the end of the dotcom boom. Our cubicles next to each other. It was a long time ago--so many lifetimes ago it feels like. Since WHN, we only spoke periodically, and usually via text, Facebook messaging or comments. We saw each other even less. Years would go by between random lunches with Jessica, her, and me--our "peep lunches" we called them. But Victoria was as unforgettable as she was strong. She probably never knew that I thought and spoke of her often.

I remember the antics of our former employer.

I remember vividly her wedding. It was at a beautiful location. She didn't want to bore her guests with a long, drawn out ceremony, so the ceremony itself was short, had an amazing singer. It was short, memorable, to the point, as she wanted to get onto the celebration. It was Victoria.

Peep lunches were almost always held at the Hamburger Hamlet on Sepulveda--it was a place we went often when we worked together. Their lobster bisque was one of our staples--that and those little crispy onion rings. I remember one time laughing in the parking lot after we'd eaten. As I walked her to her car, looking for her usual beemer, she stopped by an SUV and popped open the hatch. "That's right. I drive an SUV now, with a car seat. Can you believe it?! ....Me, of all people!" She said with her usual devilish smile.

Eventually the West L.A. Hamlet closed. When we heard the original Hamlet on Sunset was closing, we had to have a peep lunch there. We reminisced in one of those iconic booths. We talked about her jobs. She was in P.R., and she always had stories to tell--she repped Larry Flynt! She always had doozies to tell. I had no idea this would be the last time I would see her.

As we were leaving the Hamlet, she told me she was dealing with cancer. "This is a wig!" She exclaimed, with her usual smile. "You okay?" I asked. She of course told me she was doing fine. I took it. I don't deal with that stuff well, and this was Victoria. She's indestructible. I knew she'd be fine, and I never gave it a second thought.

When I heard recently there were talks about opening another Hamlet on this side, I thought "Great! That will be our next peep lunch." One of my coworkers I work closely with does P.R. for the company I work for. I've brought Victoria up numerous times to her, as well as randomly to friends. I don't think she ever knew how often I thought of her, and brought her up either directly or indirectly. I never told her. I guess I was really proud of her. I never told her how much I admired her-- her tenacity, animation, and strength of character. I'm not sure I realized any of it myself. Emoting is not something I'm particularly comfortable with, but now I find myself filled with regret for never having told her.

Even though we only saw each other every couple of years, I guess I just always took for granted she'd be there, and we'd still be sharing stories every so often.

It was the Thursday after celebrating the gay rights wins from the Supreme Court just the day before. That evening, I saw the post on her Facebook from her husband letting everyone know she'd passed that afternoon. I felt like someone punched me in the stomach. I must have scrolled back a half dozen times to reread it thinking I must have read the name wrong. For a moment, I had no idea what had happened. Then our conversation at our last Hamlet lunch hauntingly came back to me.

Those random things that happen in my day that make me think of her still pop in my mind. Then I remember she's gone. I never realized what an impact she made on me. I was selfish for not taking what she told me that day more seriously, all because of my usual naive notion that not dealing with it somehow makes it not real.

And as I pick out my outfit for tomorrow, it still doesn't seem real. I miss you already.

I picked up my Call of Duty 6: Modern Warfare 2 promptly at midnight last night. It was pretty crazy: Infinity Ward had a tank, a humvee, and a line that wrapped around the block. After freezing my ass off for an hour, I got my preciouswhich I played on Veteran until 5 in the morning when I thought it might be good to get 3 hours sleep before work.

The game is simply fraking AWESOME. I didn't know if Infinity Ward could outdo Call of Duty 4, but this is as good or better.

I was so stoked to be playing, it was totally lost on me that there was something wrong with my prestige edition. I thought I was the only one unlucky enough to end up without a complete Soap head. , but I've seen a couple things online suggesting a few other people may have had that problem. In my case, I had two left halves of Soap's head and was missing the right half.

I brought mine back to Best Buy the moment they opened this morning, but not before I'd already emailed and called Jakks (the company that made the bust and night vision goggles for Activision) to ask what to do, since I wasn't sure if Best Buy would have a replacement (the prestige editions are sold out, from what I understand).

Anyway, Best Buy took care of my problem, but the folks at Jakks were super friendly. The lady on the phone promptly called me back, and I've already gotten a response from them via email:

We are in the process of ordering the face halves, but we will be able to send you the parts that you need. If you can please verify which half you need, as if you were the mannequin, ie if you were looking at the back of it’s head. Also please forward me your mailing address, and a contact phone number. We will contact you as soon as we receive and send out the replacements.

While I enjoyed your Shrimp Gyoza, I believe you may have left out a step in the directions.

I heated the oil in the wok on high and began pan frying the gyoza, flat side down, just as your directions indicated. It was, however, after those 4 minutes when you instructed me to "add 4 tablespoons of water to pan" that things went horribly, horribly wrong.

You seemed to have neglected to include the part where the gyoza would immediately go supernova. While the loud eruption startled scared the living fuck out of me, it was the geyser of oily, searing hot pain that rained down immediately after, causing me to slip while trying to exit what I believed at the time be an exploding kitchen, that I will remember most.

I can only assume that this was meant as payback for Hiroshima. We're even, okay? Please don't try to kill me again with your delicious frozen food treats.

Mood: hot

ResolveWed, Nov. 5th, 2008  12:29

Last night and this morning stung. I never really thought my fellow Californians would vote for hate, but in the end, a lot of them probably had a hard time going against the will of their respective churches.

As much as these people acted as bigots, I'm slowly realizing that many Californians simply don't hate gays. Sure, it's a part of that vote, but it's not 52%. That's simply not who we are. The bigots have somehow found a home with the church, and we've unfortunately found ourselves countering years worth of rhetoric from the clergy and other leaders.

The past 8+ years, they've heard the politics of prejudice and hate preached by the likes of Karl Rove through the very leader of our country. Decent and good people have had that message bolstered by a Republican convention full of rabid fundamentalists willing to go to any length to make us the feared and hated target of their culture war, regardless of the cost to us. They wasted millions of dollars to do nothing but attack us.

I think I'd gotten somewhat complacent in my little bubble here in Southern California, and that's what makes this sting more to us, I think. We've had our very foundations rattled, in a place where we've felt safe to be ourselves, where we felt not just tolerated, but respected. The battle isn't just being waged here though. This whole event has made me realize how critically, critically important it is we take up this fight at all levels.

I do have some hope that with Obama, the Republicans will no longer have the White House from which to spew its messages of intolerance.

To the leaders of the Catholic and Mormon Churches, however, I kind of hope there is a hell. I'd love to see you judged by your actions this election. You spent millions of dollars that could have helped people to hurt people. If there is true evil in the world, you exemplified it with your bold-faced lies, your fear tactics, and your abhorrent bigotry. You've masterfully shown to the world why the separation of church and state must, must be maintained.

In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.-Thomas Jefferson, 1814

Mood: determined Listening to: Linkin Park - Hands Held High

BittersweetTue, Nov. 4th, 2008  22:59

I cheered. We all cheered as McCain conceded defeat.

It was a truly a surreal moment, however, at the Henry Fonda Theater when they introduced Obama as the next POTUS. I actually teared up as I watched and listened to our new President.

It was amazing. It was truly, truly amazing. In all of the elections in which I've participated, I've never been so ecstatic, so moved, and so inspired. He's a great orator. In the end though, the real victory is that his election is symbolic of and sends the message of a course change that is so woefully needed by this country.

After his speech though, my friend informed of Prop 8's status, which was just depressing. I remember how surprised I was when Prop 22 passed, but this is years later. Little has apparently changed. The fact is, I live in a state that right now cares more about the rights of chickens (prop 2) than it does of its own citizens.

I know the fight isn't over, but I'm drained. Why do I have to feel as if I need to fight for my rights every, single election?

I guess I should be happy our country took a new direction tonight. I'm really disappointed in my state right now though.

I always thought we were different. I spoke to a friend in the south who reminded me that we still have it much better off than they do. It still stings though. In some ways, to be honest, I think it stings more. I didn't realize so many in my own state felt the way they do.

Here's to Hope. For tonight, though, I'm going to take my Ambien and go to sleep before the Prop 8 bigots announce their temporary victory. Our fight continues tomorrow...

I like the timers on pedestrian crosswalks, particularly when driving so I know if I can make the light as I near the intersection.

After I went through a couple lights on Olympic Blvd today, just barely making it to each as the countdown ran out and the light went yellow, I couldn't help but feel as if I were in a video game racing to hit all the checkpoints in time.

All I need now are paddle shifters, a radio that can tune "Splash Breeze", and a blonde sitting next to me saying "Great job" over and over until I'm trying to figure out where the melee button is.

I'm not entirely sure any of this is a good thing for my fellow drivers....

Mood: hyper Listening to: Linkin Park - Hands Held High

tweet thisThu, May. 8th, 2008  22:25

that's weird. i can't seem to find the option to have twitter notifications BURNED INTO MY FUCKING SCROTUM WITH A SALTY, HOT CATTLE PROD.

if i could totally kill only two people this year, it would be the guy on the infomercials who talks about the importance of evacuating the 1200 pounds of leftover crap in your colon and the fraking twat monkey who thought giving venture capital to twitter was a good idea.

...and if i could get one more, i'd go after the person or persons who thought it would be so fucking awesome to syndicate the twitter content to every other service on earth. O HAI MAYBE IN ADDITIONS TO TEXTING MY PHONE, IMING ME, EMAILING ME, AND POSTING IT TO MY FACEBOOK YOU COULD ATTACH IT TO LARGE ROCKS AND THROW IT AT MY FUCKING HEAD TOO!

ok i'm just kidding. you know i love you all. but seriously, twitter needs to die painfully in a tragic velociraptor acid reflux accident.

p.s. i'll probably twitter you this weekend when i'm bored in an airport.

Mood: bouncy

They just grow up so fast *sniffle*Fri, Apr. 25th, 2008  16:31

My little man's an Officer now. Seems like yesterday he was just a Sergeant Major.

*sniff* I'm all verklempt... talk amongst yourselves.

Mood: gotta pee! Listening to: Flobots - Stand Up

ROOMBA DORAL GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANCE!Fri, Apr. 11th, 2008  19:03

omg.

My vacuum cleaner apparently went batshit. Wires all over my room. It pulled my other cell phone off its charger and somehow left it way on the other side of the room before hiding my bluetooth headset charger. I've got papers ripped all over the place.

When I find where he's hiding, he's SO gonna get it.

Listening to: Flobots - Handlebars

Roomba lost its first baby tooth!Thu, Feb. 28th, 2008  20:35

Awww... One of Doral's baby teeth fell out today.

...guess someone's getting a visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight!

who's a cute widdle Roomba? Yesh you are... Yesh you are...

Mood: aww Listening to: NatGeo - Air Emergency

I'd like to file a bug reportWed, Feb. 20th, 2008  19:03

The Moon disappeared—like totally effing gone. I was told there would reddish orange tinges that would dazzle the skies.... DAZZLE THE SKIES!!

In the end, it really was a toss up. I still go back and forth in my head. I could happily go for Hillary, but I think Obama sends the right message: being tired of the same old politics. A good orator, a good leader is certainly something this country could use.

In the general election, I will happily cast my vote for either candidate. It's been a long time since we've had a choice where we didn't have to hold our noses as we selected the candidate. The gravy? it was an historic vote regardless of whom you chose, and you'll get to do it again in November—regardless of the winner.

Watching The Year Without A Santa Claus (the bestest holiday special EVAR), I suddenly envisioned this. I have no idea why.

Unrelated, my friend noticed that Snow Miser refers to Heat Miser as his "step brother" (I always just thought they were brothers). This begs the question: uhh... how many guys did Mother Nature bone, and who the hell are the baby daddies?

Listening to: "It was a year without a santa claus..."

The 2007 Annual Google Doodle DefacingThu, Dec. 27th, 2007  0:46

I don't like stick people, meh.

So I like to have my own little alter-endings to the Google holiday doodles since theirs just never seem to have enough sex and/or violence. In that spirit, here's 2007. I like fire.

Last night I went to Cracked Christmas by The Trevor Project. I will admit: I was expecting a fun time out with friends, and to that end it delivered. I drank with friends. I stood about a meter from Jodi Foster as she walked in. It was, by all accounts, a fun, gay evening out in the City of Angels.

Alec Mapa's bit had me rolling on the floor laughing. In fact, I don't think I've laughed that hard at a live performance in a while. There was, however, a payload I wasn't expecting, and I've been left distracted, in deep thought since.

It started when Jodi Foster gave an impassioned eulogy for her friend Randy Stone, creator of the movie Trevor. I sat amazed at how many lives this person whom I'd never heard of, producer of a movie I'd never seen, had touched. I couldn't help but wonder what the fuck I've done to make a difference.

But it was an emotional Ground Zero for me when T.R. Knight got up to introduce and give the Trevor Life Award to Ellen Degeneres. He was one of the few of the day's talent who did not read his lines. He spoke from the hip, often in unfinished sentences—his voice cracking as he was visibly trying to maintain his composure as he spoke of the coming out episode of Ellen on April 30, 1997, and how it affected him.

If I hadn't seen the episode, I probably would have cynically and defensively made a joke or gotten up to get another drink. But I remember the episode—vividly. I remember the day. It was a day after which I was never the same person. So I sat there hanging on his every word, somewhat shocked because, unless he was acting, the experience he echoed could have been my own. In fact, it was. I knew how much the episode meant to him as he was explaining it, because it meant that much to me.

I've been asked, as I'm sure every gay person has, "When did you know you were gay?" I always felt weird answering. Friends would tell me, "I knew all my life." But me? I had no such definitive answer. I'd secretly fallen in love with a guy, and even had kissed a guy before I knew. At the time, I couldn't figure out if I were straight and confused, bi, gay, or what, and I'd have happily taken a blood test to find out just to know.

When that Wednesday evening came around, I hung out with friends. When we went our separate ways, I snuck back to my dorm room, turned the TV on as low as it possibly could go and still be audible. I put a towel under the door so no one could hear, plopped myself down centimeters from the TV and hit PLAY.

I watched intently as "Ellen" wrestled with the issue. I remember my right hand was over my mouth, tears welling up in my eyes, as her character rhetorically asked, "Why can't I say the word?"

After the episode was finished, I remember getting up to look in the mirror. I didn't recognize the person looking back at me. I have to tell you, if you've never experienced it, it's an eerie feeling. I saw this fag looking back at me, and I knew. I finally knew. I tried to mouth the words "I'm gay," but had a hard time doing it. When I finally got the word out, I felt relieved, but immediately broke down feeling completely overwhelmed. It was the day I came out to myself, but I couldn't help but know that the life I thought I knew was over, and that I would never be the same person. I never was.

Years later, I found myself sitting right next to Ellen Degeneres at a party. I always had told myself that if I ever had the opportunity to, I wanted to tell her what that episode meant to me. I'm rarely star struck, but that night I was. I wanted so badly to turn to her and just say, "Thank you," but I couldn't. I didn't know if she'd know what the hell I were talking about, and I wasn't sure I could say it without breaking down. Last night, T.R. Knight said the word I couldn't for me—and for all of us, really, who were watching that night that feels like another lifetime ago—to Ellen:

Thanks.

Mood: pensive Listening to: Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes

When Master Chief gets down on his kneesThu, Nov. 8th, 2007  16:26

Now that is just so ridiculously sweet it makes me want to throw up a little.

This must've taken forever to forge. I totally want to catch the spike grenade when she throws it.

Everything in my office is a brownish/orangish color from the Sun cutting through the smog from the fires—a nice reminder that with every breath I'm probably taking a few minutes off my life as I inhale the remains of some Malibu socialite's lapdog.

Effective September 19, 2007, the time announcement service has been discontinued. We apologize for any inconvenience.

I just dialed it to explain to a newbie coworker how to transfer a call and instead of the comforting, nasally voice of the woman saying, "At the tone, Pacific [Standard | Daylight] Time will be..." I got that recording.

Where the frak am I going to transfer annoying sales people to NOW?!?

This is unsettling. She's just always been there for me. Test calls, place to transfer a sales call, 3-way calls with coworker's voice mail, just for shits and giggles. All the fun we had together, now but a memory. All... gone. She didn't even say "Goodbye."

I guess I still have the 777-FILM / 222-FILM guy.

*sigh*

It's just not the same.

I'll miss you, Time Lady Talker Person.

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far awayNow it looks as though they're here to stayOh, I believe in yesterday

Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to beThere's a shadow hanging over meOh, yesterday, came suddenly

Why she had to go I don't knowShe wouldn't sayI said something wrong, now I long for yesterday

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to playNow I need a place to hide awayOh, I believe, In yesterday

I'm seriously about to piss myself with anticipation for Halo 3 tomorrow night.

It's like trying to sleep on Christmas Eve. It'll get worse for sure once once my Halo 3 countdown widget goes below 1 day. I have to somehow get a full night's sleep tonight, cuz I'm not sure how much I'll get tomorrow night. I plan to be at the store at midnight to pick mine up. I'll probably end up playing until some ungodsly hour. I just can't wait to ride the man cannon again.

okay, I've srsly been LOLing at this for like 5 minutes (been catching up on my feeds from the weekend; I'm behind).

oh god, i laugh uncontrollably everytime I preview this.

help.

someone make this lollercoaster ride stop. stomach hurts.

Listening to: Stereophonics - Dakota (You Make Me Feel Like The One)

Motorola MOTOROKR S9Thu, Apr. 19th, 2007  18:13

SQUEEEEE! Helloooooo, Moto!

Motorola finally released the S9 headphones I've been dying to try out. Unfortunately, my last pair of BT headphones didn't quite live up to their usefulness. The fact is they were simply just too big. I felt like Princess Leah wearing the things. On top of that, they were a little on the heavy side and, well, the needless blinking blue lights on either side made me worry about jets trying to land on my head.

Enter the S9!

These things are, so far, the most practical I've seen. First of all, thery're earbuds, of which I'm a fan. My Sony FONtopias are by far my favorite headphones. They pretty much rawk anything inexpensive I've tried, and the bass is unparalleled in an earbud. Secondly, they're much more nondescript than the last ones. I'm pretty much of the belief that headphones should be heard and not seen.

My music player and earphones aren't fashion statments. I almost never wear white headphones that stand out (unless I'm wearing a white shirt). Otherwise, my little black wires run underneath my shirt and into the pocket where my music device is hidden. Considering there's a battery, charging port, and power switch, these aren't a bad compromise.

Sound Quality

I have to admit, when I first tried them, they sounded pretty bad. I remembered how my FONtopias are very sensitive to positioning, so when I noticed replacement earbuds, I popped off the directional ones and placed the straight ones on. The difference in bass was immediately noticeable, and the sound in general improved 100%. I guess it probably depends on your ears as to which will work best for you, but, although a little big for my ears, the replacement mushroom-looking buds sound much better in my ears. The difference was immediately noticeable and it wasn't subtle. I'm not sure why Motorola preinstalled the other buds, but perhaps my ears are different. I won't say the sound is as good as my FONtopias, but there are a lot of factors that can be influencing the quality. I'm going to try a different music player on my mobile that has an equalizer later.

The buttons to answer calls and pause/play are on either ear. The next track and volume buttons are touch sensitive, so you just have to press your finger against them (this will take a little getting used to as every time I grab them, I'm setting something off).

The mic is embedded somewhere in the right ear bud. [I'll try this out later and fill in how that works]. If it works anything like the HT820s, the mic won't be an issue. When a call comes in, the music of course pauses, and you can take the call right in the headphones. Once the call ends, the music automatically picks up from where it left off.

Another great feature of these, the device can pair with up to 8 different devices! So you can use them as headphones for your computer at work, your cell phones, your notebook at home, home stereo, mp3 player, etc.

Anyway, so far I'm a fan. I'm going to try these out at the gym tonight (if it isn't too cold). It'll be nice to finally put the music playing capabilities of my cell phone to good use.

Oh, yes, and there are no obnoxiously large blinking lights on this one—just a little unobtrusive one that is underneath the battery compartment in the back.

[Additional Info -- 2007-04-19 21:49]I had noticed some clipping on higher frequencies that was disconcerting, however, this appears to be limited to the software on the mobile device. After pairing it to the Windows installation on my ThinkPad, I can say the sound is VERY good for wireless headphones, and I've noticed no clipping at either low or high frequencies. So far this is the only other device I've tried it with. Although I successfully paired it to my Macbook as a headset, Apple's Bluetooth implementation on the Mac is incomplete and does not support the A2DP profile (which is required for stereo over BT).

Mood: geeky Listening to: Story of the Year - Anthem of Our Dying Day

FarknessThu, Apr. 19th, 2007  13:52

I was playing on Fark today. I got inspiration when I saw this lady. 'Course I was in a rush to a meeting, chopped off a corner of the wheel chair and really fraked up adding part of his arm.

I make drawerings. I pulled out this relic of internets of yore. I wonder what these guys are doing now. Someone really should do a "Where are they now?" of the intarwebs.

Mood: farked Listening to: Nada Stuff - Inside of Love

My Dearest Trader Joe,Wed, Apr. 11th, 2007  17:15

If you introduce one more thing I grow to love and then subsequently take it from me a month later, I swear to Raptor Christ, I will personally fly to the Middle East, dig up the baby Jesus, remove a rusty skewer from his crusty body and stab you in the eye with it, you teasing twat-monkey.

You've toyed with my emotions for the last time!

Signed,Your loving customer,David

P.S. bring back the Spicy Veggie & Flaxseed Tortilla Chips or I will totally kill Trader Ming with fire. kthxbye

Mood: hyper Listening to: Yellowcard - Back Home

TiVo! What's happened to us?!Mon, Mar. 5th, 2007  11:24

You should've been recording the new Family Guy yesterday, but the cable box defied your instructions (yet again) and failed to change the channel.

That was bad.

What was worse was what you recorded: something on Country Music Television?!!11 That means, of course, that you were recording something on that station before trying to get Family Guy.

Now, I know I must take part of the blame. After repeating Guided Setup, it's my responsibility to delete all sports, foreign language, and country music stations from your listings. I somehow missed one. But how?! How could you not know me after all these years?

Painfully I pulled up your love notes to me, "TiVo's Suggestions," hoping to see there was some huge error. Maybe you thought that channel was something else? I wanted to believe, but it was too much to hope for. Tears welled up in my eyes as I hysterically hit the red DO NOT WANT button. I must've pressed it 10 times as you complained "BONG! BONG! BONG!" as though I were hurting you. I wanted to hurt you. How could you do this to me?!

After all of these years, I thought you knew me! I thought we had something special!

I'm scared to pull up your suggestions now—afraid I'll find you've been watching college baseball. Or worse: Country music festival college baseball hosted by Dr. Phil in Mandarin.

I don't know. I just... I just need to be alone for a little while. It's like there's a stranger in my bedroom now. It's best we not speak for a while.

Mood: crushed Listening to: Madonna - Love Don't Live Here Anymore

ONOES! WE HAVE TERRORS!!Thu, Feb. 22nd, 2007  18:06

It's official: we've lost the war on terrah... and it was by friendly fire.

SANTA FE, New Mexico (AP) -- Three CD players hidden under a cathedral's pews blared sexually explicit language in the middle of an Ash Wednesday Mass, leading a bomb squad to detonate two of the devices.

Wait until the terrorists learn to combine a Lite-Brite with a CD player. OMG. The horror. The horror.

I made a new threat level indicator for our protection.

Seriously... the inmates are running the asylum. Osama bin Laden (who?!) is in some desert resort laughing his fucking ass off at us right now.

Mood: *facedesk* Listening to: Death Cab for Cutie - A Lack of Color

State of the Union v. Groundhog DayThu, Jan. 25th, 2007  11:04

I had this IM waiting for me this morning:

(23:25:43) J***: comparison of the State of the Union address and Groundhog Day: "It is an ironic juxtaposition of events: One involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication ... while the other involves a groundhog."

I don't know whether to lol or *tear*.

Mood: hyper Listening to: She Wants Revenge - These Things

Redefining SophistryThu, Jan. 18th, 2007  15:31

From today's judicial hearings:

I meant by that comment that the Constitution doesn't say that every individual in the United States or every citizen has or is assured the right of habeas corpus. It doesn't say that. It simply says that the right of habeas corpus shall not be suspended."

Seriously, I don't think I stepped foot outside the building after dark (well, after that one tragic Trader Joe's walk Friday night, anyway). Cold weather and rain are two times you can stay in on the weekend and not feel guilty about it.

So, $200 poorer, I did surgery on the Macbook and gave it a 2gb transplant so I could assign 1gb to the parallels' virtual machine. I think the Thinkpad is jealous. Regardless, it's the seXbox that got all the love this weekend.

After that, I spent each night turning on the fireplace, sitting on the coffee table, playing Xbox. You'd be surprised how long you can do that with a sippy cupped filled with caffeine perched in front of you (actually, until your bladder commands you to get up).

I'm not sure how long the Arctic freeze is supposed to last here. It's kind of out of control. My roommate mmsed me a picture from his car this morning showing "35F" (he gets up way earlier than I). I'd like to thaw out though. I don't like wearing coats, and my idea of layers is a long sleeve under a short sleeve.

Anyway, it being MLK Day, and being stuck at work, I've found myself reminded of a quote that I've always found really poignant and probably something that's good to remind myself of more than just once a year:

Lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

Doughnuts: the other other other other white meatFri, Jan. 5th, 2007  11:08

Sweet Mother of all things pure and holy

So the freakish wind storm last night totally woke my ass up repeatedly as it kept throwing pieces of nature at the sliding glass door in my bedroom. The wind was also somehow managing to get inside a little bit, causing the vertical blinds to knock against each other. The thought even crossed my mind it might be hail, something I haven't heard since the storms we had in Spring of '98. But this was so loud, I thought El Niño was back and sitting right outside the door wanting to come in.

Well after being woken up again and again (and I'm a pretty heavy sleeper), I got up to look out the window in the family room. The wind seriously looked as if it was about to knock a tree over. On my way back to my bedroom to hop on the laptop to see what's up, I saw the sad, blinking light of the Vonage phone telling me, "ONOES! UR INTARWEBS R BROK3N ZOMG!" So... I grabbed Time-Warner Cable's number on my way back, picked up my cell phone, lied back down, and tried to get my news the old school way: I turned on KTLA.

The weather guy said we were having winds up to 30 mph, but that shit looked crazier than that. He went on to explain something about cold, north winds blowing into the area, the cold air expanding, going over the hill, falling to the ground, and racing down the slope as the cause. Since my bedroom window sits pretty much on the bottom of the slope facing the Santa Monica Mountains, this seemed to explain why things sounds so bad out there.

Anyway, this post had a point. Oh, yes!

So after this, since I couldn't go back to sleep anymore (because I was on hold with Time-Warner trying to find out about my internets), I kept watching the news like a zombie. At some point, they cut to Frittelli's, which I hadn't heard of. Apparently, it's this new doughnut shop on Cañon in Beverly Hills. Everything is supposed to be hand-made using all natural ingredients and "the finest chocolates," according to my new reporter friend.

Well, they had me at "do." Once they said "chocolate," it was all over. I kept watching as the bitch kept taunting me with her Chocolate Heath doughnut. I knew where I was going on my way to work.

Anyway, the point of this story is that, these doughnuts were pretty freakin good. I mean, it's a doughnut. There's not a lot you can do. However, I would totally rank them better than Krispy Kreme. I really wanted to try the dulce de leche they list on their website, but they didn't appear to have any, and I forgot to ask 'cause there were so many choices.

Of course, the true test of any doughnut shop, imho, is the glazed doughnut. All other fancy pants dirty mouth lawyer pants doughnuts, while good and often my faves, are just fluff. And... the glazed was very good; the chocolate was really effing good. My coworker has the pretty blueberry one on his desk at the moment; I'm very curious to hear his review. Good thing is, they weren't too crazy expensive either (I think about $1.25 for a nice-sized doughnut). Although, I can't really admit to knowing what the current market rate is for a doughnut.

Anyway, so the real story is: I had a good doughnut, and I'm really tired from lack of sleep (which may cut into my plans to get Rainbow Six today). The end.

Mood: satiated Listening to: Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up To Dry

Weirdest dream... evarFri, Dec. 29th, 2006  15:19

so last night (or likely this morning since I woke up with the ktla news on).

I dreamt that I was right outside the place where they were showing President Ford's, well, decomposing corpse. In the dream I was either hearing or seeing the news. They were talking about how those wishing to view the body lying in state would need to park and take a shuttle, yadda yadda.

Anyway, I noticed the line was actually very short, and I just happened to be standing right there. When I looked down at Ford, I noticed that his head was in a large, round plastic container with a plastic lid on it (like you put leftovers in). It seems very Futurama-ish now that I think about it, but it didn't look like that nor did I think that in the dream.

Anywho, without thinking I started to pull off the lid and noticed that the liquid was opaque, and there was a lemon wedge floating on top (I assumed to mask the smell). I got kind of grossed out at that point, and thought that maybe I was doing something I wasn't supposed to do. I put the lid back on quickly, but I think part of it didn't close all the way and I kind of meandered off.

That's all I remember. I think the dream ended at that point. Totally weird.

Now, analyze that! Although I guess it kinda goes along with today's xkcd.

In other news, I can't believe I'm actually paying $1,000 (my share) for rent now. Why can't my rent fall as fast as the value of the US $1?? (rhetorical question). Also, I can't believe this crappy OSX LJ client doesn't have a decent preview. The MacBook just happened to be at my feet, and I'm too lazy to go get the ThinkPad out of my bedroom to use Semagic. I need to go bust a cap in some Nazi ass before I get my drink on.

I'm not sure what made me just spontaneously blurt that out. I think I just had a stroke or someone spiked my soda.

Mood: hyper Listening to: Snow Patrol - Final Straw

ONOEZ SOY I5 GIVNIG KIDZ TEH GHEY!!Tue, Dec. 12th, 2006  17:52

neocons seriously crack. my. shit. up.

A friend sent me this. The Onion can't even make stuff like this up. I can't even believe they actually believe this much less put it in print for the whole world to see, but thank the gods they do.

A devil food is turning our kids into homosexuals

There's a slow poison out there that's severely damaging our children and threatening to tear apart our culture. The ironic part is, it's a "health food," one of our most popular.

Now, I'm a health-food guy, a fanatic who seldom allows anything into his kitchen unless it's organic. I state my bias here just so you'll know I'm not anti-health food.

The dangerous food I'm speaking of is soy. Soybean products are feminizing, and they're all over the place. You can hardly escape them anymore.

[...]

Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products. (Most babies are bottle-fed during some part of their infancy, and one-fourth of them are getting soy milk!) Homosexuals often argue that their homosexuality is inborn because "I can't remember a time when I wasn't homosexual." No, homosexuality is always deviant. But now many of them can truthfully say that they can't remember a time when excess estrogen wasn't influencing them... .

BWAHAHAHAHAHA. The homophobes have truly reached a new level of stupidity with this. edamame == teh ghey.

OMG!!!! NO!! BOBBY JOE GET THAT SOYBEAN OUT OF LIL' BILLY BOB'S HANDS BEFORE HE CATCHES TEH GHEY! OH MA GAWD, SPRAY HIM WITH LYSOL OR SOMETHIN'! NO! DON'T COME NEAR ME! YOU MIGHT GIVE ME THE AIDS!!

lololololol

Mood: can't. stop. loling. Listening to: Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars

Old Cyanide and HappinessSat, Nov. 25th, 2006  8:17

rofl.

Mood: lol

stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop itMon, Oct. 23rd, 2006  16:27

Whoever made up the term web 2.0 should be shot in the ass, dragged through a salt mine naked, and then set on fire.

Listening to: Story of the Year - Razorblades

Helium phoneThu, Oct. 19th, 2006  21:25

Of all the batshit crazy things my cell phone does, I find the fact that it randomly starts talking really fast and at a higher pitch to be among the weirdest.

Telling me I have a meeting in 5 minutes, sounding like it just inhaled a whip it, is a little unnerving. I think my drinking too much soda is somehow affecting it. The new beta version of ActiveSync has clearly gone too far.